Fireplace hearth

Still slowly plugging away on the fireplace. Way back when, we liked the idea of a full concrete fireplace, like this:

Alas, this beauty was outside our fireplace budget, so we scaled back, and are thrilled with the trimmed out surround. Our one concession was the concrete hearth, which was just installed.

Doesn't it look great!?

Prepping for Counters and Sinks

We had a busy morning at the house today. We met with Cody from Canton Cut Stone to get the measurements for our countertops. We wrote about our choices here.

We did a bit of research last night so we were aware of the decisions we'd need to make today. Things like:

Edge Profile:
In our previous house, we a dupont edge. We did not choose this profile. We thought it was pretty when we purchased the house, but the love affair quickly ended when I realized how easily gunk got caught in the corner. I cleaned it with an electric toothbrush.

Profile options

Since we have a more modern/transitional approach in our new house, we selected an eased (straight) profile. The edge is just very slightly rounded to keep the corner from being a hip jabber.

Eased Edge

Radius of Corners:

We also had to decide what kind of corners we wanted to have. A 90 degree angle is a 0 radius. A very round corner is a 1 radius. Ours will be 1/8", which is basically the radius equivalent of an eased edge, like the photo above.

Honed or Polished Finish:
When stone is polished, it's shiny and reflective. When it's honed, it is buffed to a matte finish. Most experts agree that etching doesn't show up as much on honed, but a polished finish protects against stains. Sine we don't cut directly on our counters, we chose polished for our quartz. Our marble slab was already polished, so we'll have the same finish, although I might have chose a honed finish if I had had a choice.

Honed Marble

Polished Marble

Sink Detail:

As much as we like the Silgranit sinks, which are made of composite material, we decided to save a little money by going with stainless steel. We close Blanco Stellar sinks for our kitchen. We knew we wanted single bowls. Scratch that, Niels, as the sweet pot-scrubbing hubby that he is, strongly campaigned for a single bowl sink. It came with a promise to continue scrubbing pots and pans, so how could I argue? The steel is 18 gauge, which is on the strong side of the scale. 

Blanco Stellar 441024

Matching grid to protect the base of the sink from scratches.

Blanco Stellar 441026

Reveal:

Reveal refers to how much of an undermount sink shows. Another way to think of it is to consider the overhang. A positive reveal means that the counter does not hang over the sink (aka, the sink is revealed). You'll see a little bit of sink and the silicone caulking. Some people don't like this because gunk can collect on the revealed part. A negative reveal means that there is a little bit of overhang, which means that you won't see the top of the sink.

Negative reveal: you can't see the top edge of the sink.

Positive Reveal: you can see the top edge of the sink. It is "revealed."

We will be getting the negative overhang. To be honest, before last night, despite being consumed with all things construction, the reveal of a sink never crossed my mind. Since our fabricator does a negative as standard, that was fine with us.

Bath and Laundry Sinks:

While most of the time was spent in the kitchen, Cody did also measure all the other counters as well. Most of the bathroom sinks will be standard white sinks, the in-law suite will have a vessel sink. We aren't big fans of vessel sinks in general, because the bowls can be quite difficult to clean, but this one is square so it should be a lot easier. We chose the vessel to raise the sink above the vanity to allow more leg room under the accessible vanity.

Kraus KCV-150

CorStone White Self-Rimming Acrylic Laundry Sink

Faucets:

As part of our accessibility goals, we chose Delta's Touch 2.0 faucets for the kitchen and in-law bath. In the kitchen, we have the Pilar 3-hole in brilliance stainless. We'll also use the bar version for the prep sink.

In the in-law bath, we chose the Lahara style in chrome because the Pilar wasn't available:

For the bathrooms, we are using Charis' standard, the elegant Eva line from Moen.

So, armed with all the selections, Cody started measuring. First he wrote everything down:

Then he set up these little doo dads and used a camera like tool with a laser beam to get exact measurements.

Cody took the measurements back to the shop and the crew there will start measuring the template. Since we chose quartz and mostly remnants, we don't really need to come in to the shop to decide where on the slab the template will be placed. They'll just take that angle that fits. However, they will call me to come in for placing the master bath vanity template so I can make sure the veins are where we want them.

The next few weeks will be interesting as all the subs dance around each other. The counters will be one of the last things, with installation scheduled for January 24 and 25.

As I left, I took a nice picture of our house with the first snow of the season.

Aging in Place

I came across a very helpful article on Houzz this morning about designing a home to age-in-place. Aging in place is a design term that means planning your home for your long-term live-in needs. This means thinking through potential challenges with mobility, vision, flexibility, etc. as you get older.

Using the article and comments as a guide, I'll show how we have planned for aging in place.

1. Make your home "visitable."
The purpose of universal design principles is to make your home both visitable and livable for a many people as possible, regardless of any limitations they may have. For example, stairs can make entry impossible for those in a wheelchair, and difficult for those with knees issues. A good goal is to have zero-barrier entry (no steps). This wasn't possible with our home, so we compromised with a gently sloped walkway that's easier on the joints.

 

And we had our carpenter built us these ramps for the two short steps we have, which make a zero barrier entry into our home.

The other big consideration we made was adding a first floor master with an en suite. Our room is a second master upstairs, near our toddler, but the in-law suite is available for guests of all abilities. As we age, if needed, we can easily move downstairs. Also, in case of injury, any member of our family can temporarily stay downstairs and have access to everything they need. In addition to the in-law bathroom, there is also a small powder room on the first floor.

2. Make Your Stairs Safe
Whether your joints are stiff, your vision is dim, or you live with vertigo, like I do, interior stairs can be a hazard. Wood stained stairs are beautiful, but they are too slippery for me to risk. (And I need the sound-proofing of carpet to keep my headaches in check). In fact, in our last house, our Shih Tzu refused to descend our wood stairs until we put treads on them!

In our new house, we chose to carpet the steps (which should be done in the next week or so!). As a cost savings, we are carpeting the whole stair, but we hope to use a well-secured runner when the carpet eventually needs to be replaced.

We are also putting lights into the stairway to help with visibility.

Here are a couple of other lighted stairways...that are finished for better visualization. Ours will look more like the first photo. The second photo shows LED lights, which are pretty cool.

Of course, it goes without saying  that a handrail (or two!) is a must. We will have handrails on both sides. Ours won't be as pretty as these, which are a great example of how aging in place can be beautiful.

3. Plan for Future Years.
It used to be that a ranch home was the only option if you wanted to age in place. But now, in addition to building homes with dual masters, like we are doing, home builders are putting in residential elevators. It's much easier on the pocketbook to put in an elevator during construction that retrofitting later.

Even if you don't have the funds put in the elevator, it's a good idea to plan the space for the future if your choices come down to retrofitting or moving into an assisted living center. In our case, we designed a large pantry (9' x 9'10") right under a good size laundry room. If we need an elevator in the future, we can use these spaces for an elevator shaft. Of course, putting the first floor suite should save us from needing an elevator, but it's nice to know we have the space if we happened to need it.

4. Reduce trip hazards.
Part of living with a brain injury, for me, means living with a great risk of falling due to vertigo issues, vision issues, and just plain brain fatigue. This means that we planned our floors and floor plan to reduce any uneven surfaces that would pose a trip hazard.

Thresholds between rooms are a common place for trip hazards.

This really came into play when we planned our flooring. In a budget-free world, we would have used cork throughout the house. It's quiet, soft, sound-proofing, earth-friendly and beautiful. However, it's also a pricey flooring option, so for now, it's going in our kitchen, dinette and pantry. We tried to save money with luxury vinyl tile in the mudroom and in-law suite, but we would have had too much of a height difference in our thresholds between rooms, thus causing a trip hazard. Instead, we put tile in the mudroom (and foyer and powder room), and carpet in the in-law suite (and great room and office), so the floor is level throughout the main level.

In addition to being a trip hazard, uneven transitions pose a challenge for those in wheelchairs.

Cords can also pose trip hazards, as can rugs. The solution for us is to have great overhead lighting, natural lighting, and only use lamps where they can be plugged in close to a wall outlet.

This cord should be under the floor mat.

In the 80s, when I was growing up, sunken living rooms were all the rage. Since trends seem to return every few decades, it's worth noting that this trend is not a very good one for universal design. These are a major trip hazard and mobility challenge!

5. Say No to Knobs (and Switches).  My mom has arthritis, so when we first started designing our house, she made the request that we avoid knobs on the doors and hardware because levers and pulls are much easier to use. We also opted for rockers on our lights instead of switches for the same reason. As you make your selections, make a fist with your hands to test the ease of use of your choice.

Levers instead of knobs for doors.

Pulls instead of knobs on hardware. 

Rockers instead of switches.

Levers instead of knobs on faucets.

6. Consider accessible seating and access in the kitchen. As kitchens are returning to prominence as the center of the home, make sure that the seating you provide is easy for anyone to use. Consider a variety of heights for tall and short users, as well as wide aisles for wheelchair accessibility.

In our new home, we have (at least) 40" aisles in the kitchen and 36" doorways.

Wide aisles

36" wide pantry door

We have stools at bar height in our entertainment counter, but our kitchen is partly open to our dinette, which has table height chairs. Also, the baking center and the kitchen command center are both open underneath to accommodate wheelchairs.

Inspiration for my baking center.

Kitchen command center in progress.

Consider use and access in kitchen design, as well. Think about reaching what you need from a seated position.

Raised dishwashers are easier to access from a wheelchair, and also easier on aging backs.

A modern alternative to the raised dishwasher is the dishwasher drawer, which is especially nice for smaller families or empty nesters.

Drawers provide easy access to dishes, glasses and other kitchenware for older and younger users, as well as those in wheel chairs.

7. Offer Independence in the Bathroom.
In addition to the kitchen, the bathroom can cause the most inconvenience for accessibility. In addition to the things mentioned above, a bathroom needs to be designed with room for a wheelchair to maneuver and easy access to the shower.

This diagram shows an example of the radius needed for a wheelchair to maneuver comfortably (and independently) in a bathroom.

 If you know that a family or frequent guest is in a wheelchair, a wheel-in entry to the shower is best.

Our in-law suite was laid out with room for a chair, but we opted for this tub instead of the wheel-in.

For the needs of our family in particular, it's less likely that I'll need a chair, but I have some balance issues. This shower has a moveable seat that allows me to sit down as I shower.

We are also designing our vanity that's open under the sink, like this, to allow a wheelchair under it.

An easy aid to incorporating grab bars into fixtures like the toilet paper holder and towel holder. We are using these fixtures from the Moen Home Care collection.

Building a home to age in place is a lot like going green or being energy-efficient: it's a process. There's always more you can do, but whatever little thing you do do is better than nothing. One commenter in the inspiration article from Houzz used the term "invisible accessibility." That our goal, to create a beautiful modern home that subtly and fully meets the needs of all our family and friends.

Niels' Office

Seems fitting--as I'm sitting in our apartment waiting for Niels to come home from a crazy long WEEKEND HOLIDAY day at work--to blog about his new home office plans. (By the way, I really can't complain. He only has super long days like this once or twice a year, and his boss is really great about working around our unique family issues).

We each campaigned for the office space. I wanted it for a play room for D, but ultimately agreed that Niels need at place to work from home when the weather was bad or I wasn't feeling well. Since we had to delay finishing the basement, our son gets a really big play room.

We've been dreaming of our forever home for about four years now. I can't remember when it went from "someday" to "someday soon" but over the last few years, we've spent many happy hours touring model homes, open houses, and "home" stores, as our toddler calls them. Given Niels' European roots, it's no surprise that Ikea is one of our favorite places. 

When Niels saw this set up at Ikea a few years ago, he said, "This is it!" 

Mind you, this is before we even had an idea of what our floor plan was going to end up looking like! He liked the open desk that faced the door. The bookcases around the walls, and the espresso finish on the bookcases. 

The above photo was taken at the Pittsburgh store. This part October we saw a similar setup in the Orlando store: The bookcases are from the Billy collection, but I think the Expedit and Hermnes collections have promise, too. The desk above is from the Galant collection. 

For chairs, I'm think we might get two of these fun (and very comfortable) bungee chairs from The Container Store. I want one for my command center, so we might as well get a matching set, right?

Source: containerstore.com via Mare on Pinterest

Eventually, when Niels gets some downtime, he'll use the Billy Planner on Ikea's site to lay everything out, and then we'll take a little roadtrip to Ikea.